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'Punti-Hakka Clan Wars' or 'Hakka-Punti Clan Wars' (Chinese: 土客械鬥) refers to battles or conflicts between the Hakka and the Punti in Guangdong (廣東), China, between 1855 and 1867, during the reign of the Qing Dynasty. The war was particularly fierce in the area around Pearl River Delta, especially Taishan of Sze Yup. The war caused a million to die or flee.
Hakka literally means 'guest family', and Punti literally means 'original land'. The Punti are also referred to by the dialect they speak, which is Cantonese. The basis of these bloody conflicts were the Punti’s resentment against the Hakka that they were increasing dramatically in number, and encroaching on their land. From the Hakka’s point of view, they were marginalized, discriminated against, and had to farm left-over or unwanted, hilly land.

Contents

Background

Clan war

End of the war

Similar conflicts in Taiwan

See also

External links

Background

When the Ming Dynasty was overthrown by the Qing Dynasty, Ming loyalists, notably Koxinga Zheng Chenggong, fled to Taiwan in order to raise troops in the hope of eventually retaking China for the Ming. The Qing government, in order to stymie these efforts, commanded all residents of coastal areas in Guangdong and Fujian to twice move inland 50 ''li'', approximately 30 km. The migration caused a large number of Punti people to die. The rebels in Taiwan were pacified, and the Qing allowed people to move back.
Although the Qing government lifted the restriction on inhabiting the coast, far fewer Punti people moved back than was expected, and thus the Qing government decided to provide incentives to the Hakka to populate the coast. The Punti and the Hakka lived together peacefully at this period, and Guangdong remained quite peaceful and its population soared. The population gradually increased beyond what the hilly Guangdong could bear and caused unrest in the area.
In 1851, the Taiping Rebellion, led by a Cantonese Hakka, Hung Hsiu Ch'uan, broke out in Guangxi and quickly spread to Southern China. The rebellion came to an end in 1864. During the rebellion, an anti-Qing sect, the Triad in Guangdong, took the chance and organised the Red Turbans in 1854 and attacked Fa Yuen and Fat Shan. The Red Turbans Rebellion was suppressed in three years.

Clan war

During the rebellion, the Hakka in the Pearl River Delta had helped the imperial army to suppress the rebellion; the imperial official decided to keep the area clear of rebellion participants and raided the Punti villages. This caused hostility between the Hakka and the Punti, and the Punti attacked Hakka villages in revenge.
Bloody battles raged, with both sides fortifying their villages with walls, and raising armies as best as they could. Of course, entire villages would be involved in the fighting, and all able-bodied men were called on to fight against the other side. For the Punti, money for armaments was forthcoming from their relatives in Hong Kong, and abroad.
The conflicts escalated into large-scale clan wars.
The clan war is related to the Chinese Diaspora in the 19th century. Some of those who lost in the clan wars were sold to Cuba and South America as coolies via Hong Kong and Macau, and some females were sold to Macau as prostitutes.

End of the war

The war reached devastating scales and large number of people died, fled, and were sold. Thousands of houses were destroyed.
Because the population of Punti outnumbered the Hakka's, the Hakka suffered more losses in the clan war. The Qing government implemented the strategy of segregation to cool the conflict, and the Hakka were relocated to Guangxi Province. After the clan war, the population share of Hakka in the Sze Yup area dropped to 3%.
The hostility between the Hakka and the Punti could be found also in overseas communities in the early 20th century.

Similar conflicts in Taiwan

Hostility was also present in Taiwan; the Hoklo people (Hokkien) from Fujian and the Hakkas from Guangdong frequently fought against each other. Although much alleviated, the hostility between the Hoklo and the Hakka is still present in the community of Taiwan.

See also

★ Punti

★ Hakka

★ Agriculture in Hong Kong

External links

★ Punti-Hakka Clan Wars and Taishan County.

★ 土客械斗十二年 (Simplified Chinese)